Caring For Kids

Director Goes Distance To Make Programs Supplement School

June 20, 1996|By NIGEL D. HATTON Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — Last Friday was a bad one for Kellie Mojica.

All her little friends went away for the summer. Duke Brian, the 6-year-old master of hopscotch and tic-tac-toe took a vacation. Kadeem Palmer, the 5-year-old who likes to wear Michael Jordan gear , left the building for good. Emily Thompson, 6, a kindergartener at Jenkins Elementary - she's gone, too.

Mojica, director of the KIDS - Kindergarten Imagination and Discovery Seekers - program for Newport News Parks and Recreation, knew the day was coming. She knew she'd be sad.

Her program entertains and molds kids in First Step, - a preschool program for academically at-risk 4-year-olds - and a few 5-and 6-year-olds enrolled in kindergarten before and after they go to their respective schools for the day.

Some kids come to the KIDS classroom, Room 10, at the Denbigh Recreational Center on Old Courthouse Way, as early as 6:50 a.m. and, aside from school, don't leave until 6:30 p.m. The before-and after-school program keeps kids under a watchful eye while their moms and dads are away at work.

``They're here all day,'' Mojica says.

Many of their habit and mannerisms come from Mojica - ``Ms. Kellie'' - and her staff of three. They teach the kids the importance of sharing. They eat snacks with them, help them tie their shoes, remind them to cover their mouths when they cough, drill them with number and alphabet exercises, discipline them with timeouts when they step out of line.

``We're not a school,'' Mojica says, ``but we teach them things that prepare them for kindergarten.''

In the preparation process, kid and counselor, kid and director grow on one another. Grow to the point that when the kid leaves, the counselor laments.

``I feel like these kids, the staff, is my second family,'' Mojica says. ``I feel like this is my center, these are my kids.''

As quickly as the 30 children enrolled in KIDS walked out of her life last Friday, 30 mostly new faces walked in Monday morning. They arrived as part of the Summer Adventures program that lasts until August, a week before school reopens. They're in for a summer of fun and field trips to places like Busch Gardens, Water Country and the Virginia Marine Science Museum.

Mojica imagines she'll get to know them, too. But last Friday, the whole week, in fact, was somewhat of a bummer. Such is life for a schoolage programs director with Newport News Parks and Recreation. Mojica has been with parks and recreation for six years, working her way up from summer recreational aide to senior recreational aide to director. She skipped over a stint at assistant director.

``She was kind of raised in the program,'' says her boss, Barb Summerlin. ``She's good.''

A love of children comes naturally for the 1991 Menchville High School graduate. Her mother was an elementary school teacher, Mojica's ultimate goal. She resumes early childhood education classes at Thomas Nelson Community College in the fall. She's known her desired profession since the third grade.

``I've always loved children,'' she says. ``This is the age where you can catch them. You've got to get them when they're young. That's where their base is.''

When perfecting the ``base,'' she moves from disciplinarian to checkers partner to building blocks companion to Lego counterpart to storytime reader to parent informant. Parents rely on her to let them know how kids have acted during the day. Dexter's mom, Elona Wilson, often asked ``How was Mr. Wilson today?'' referring to her 4-year-old son.

``I'm a single parent now,'' says Wilson who works in Hampton. ``It's so nice to be able to feel relief when you leave your child in the morning. I can always call and check on Dexter - any time.''

Kellie does a ``very good job,'' she adds. ``Sometimes I'll call her, and if he's mad at me, I'll tell them it's probably not going to be a good day.''

Mojica says talking with parents is key. They have to feel comfortable with their child spending an entire day with people like her and the other counselors - assistant director Angela Chester, senior recreational aide Sherry Boddie, and recreational aide Larry Caine. Mojica likens the scenario to a salesperson trying to assure the customer the quality of a product - in this case, the staff. Mojica prides herself on keeping the product motivated and prepared.

``I love working with Kellie. She's funny. She keeps you entertained,'' Caine says. ``She's one of those people you would work for anyway.''

Another aspiring teacher, Caine says the closeness of the staff allowed KIDS to succeed, to produce a quality product. ``We're kind of tight down here,'' he says.

Carmen Thompson, Emily's mom, was sold on the KIDS program. She appreciated the caring staff, the candid director.

``She's the type of person you talk to once and you feel like you've known her for a long time,'' Thompson says. ``She takes constructive criticism well. Not that we've had any problems, but she looks to accommodate the parent. We can discuss anything. I think she's outstanding.''